The C-Word

Last week, I read an article by a sports writer who asked why the major free agents haven't signed yet. The possible reason for no signings to which the article alluded was the "C-word." For those who don't remember the late 1980's labor conflict, the C-word is collusion. In the late 1980's the major league owners were convicted in court of secretly (and illegally) conspiring to prevent player salaries from rising. Is it possible that players aren't signing because the owners aren't offering enough?

Now it wouldn't be surprising that the baseball owners didn't learn their lesson in the 80's. After all, they've shown very little capacity to learn from their mistakes. Its also possible that the owners aren't offering the asking prices of the players. The numbers thrown around in the Hot Stove reports are so large, how could a team afford them? I expect that the players will sign contracts smaller than what has been advertised with the agents claiming that the players took less money to sign with their new team.

But does this mean collusion?

But let's not jump the gun. I looked up the baseball transactions from this time last year, and the biggest free agent signed by the end of November was probably Danys Baez. In case you don't remember Baez, he's the Cuban pitcher who defected, and Cleveland wasted millions of dollars on him. Two of the biggest free agent pitchers after the 1999 season were Chuck Finley and Kenny Rogers, who signed on December 16 and December 29, respectively.

Really, its too early to expect anything big to have happened yet. The teams generally don't make big signings until both sides have examined their options. So expect the big ones to go around mid-December.

So if you're like me and anxious to see who goes where at what price, calm down. We're not there yet.

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